This past Tuesday at the annual CM Summit hosted by Federated Media as part of Internet Week, Marcy Shinder, VP of Brand Strategy & Marketing at American Express OPEN (M Booth client), credited small business owners with inventing “social networking” long ago in the off-line universe. Shinder pointed out that for small business owners, “success has always relied on their ability to connect with others for advice, support and networking.”

It is this very essence of the SBO that would make them natural adopters of the type of social networking occurring on-line. But are SBOs making the switch and taking their old-fashioned methods to today’s digital space?

A recent article in the NY Times reports that most small businesses have not yet fully embraced social networks, but their numbers are growing. The article goes on to reference data from a recent study commissioned by Sage North America which found that that 65% of small businesses currently on social networking sites said that they felt more comfortable doing so this year than last year. In total, more than 260,000 North American businesses currently use social networking to promote their businesses, according to the “North America Small Business Social Networking Study.”

Furthermore, SBOs aren’t just limiting themselves to connecting on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Nearly 40% of business owners are increasingly tapping other niche sites (i.e. women entrepreneurs) that have been sprouting around the web, looking for more tailored and cost-effective marketing and networking opportunities to build their businesses during the economic downturn. Using the CM Summit as a launching pad, Shinder unveiled the new OPEN Forum 2.0, currently in beta and scheduled to go live Q3 2009, to the sold-out audience of tech savvy and innovation leading entrepreneurs. The revamped social networking site combines its popular small business content from some of the top bloggers in the space, with a greater focus on connections through the new “Connectodex” feature. Shinder described “Connectodex” as an online tool that is designed to connect OPEN Forum members with companies that offer complimentary services and expertise.

Perhaps most appealing about what the new OPEN Forum site promises to offer is its focus on bridging the gap for many SBOs who have a high business relationship IQ, but need to boost their social media IQ. Many of the conversations that will take place on OPEN Forum will be geared toward educating today’s entrepreneur about the power of social media to grow their business. Rob King, VP for strategic marketing at Sage North America, said it best in the NY Times piece,  “small businesses have a 12-month window to figure out online social networking…I hate to say it, but if they don’t, they’ll get left in the dust.”

- Danny

Here’s an excellent article on a very important trend I keep telling my friends and colleagues they should pay heed to: Personal Branding.  Courtesy of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (M Booth’s oldest client).

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Jim MacMillan is profiled as a succesful example of someone who re-invented himself though social networking.

While still employed as a staff photographer at the Philadelphia Daily News, he had launched his own web site — jimmacmillan.net — for posting his photos and linking to related stories in the news. Like many professionals, he also created a profile on Facebook, Twitter and every social network he could learn about, roughly 40 in all. Eventually, he took a severance package from the newspaper and threw everything into social networking. Today, he has close to 14,000 followers reading his posts on Twitter — a number on a par with some celebrities — and keeps in touch with about 475 friends on Facebook. He believes he reaches a larger and more engaged audience than when he was at the Daily News.

Jim is part of a growing mass of professionals — including musicians, writers, artists and even business experts — who are engaging large audiences by making songs available on a MySpace page, sharing their expertise on Twitter or building a national readership by blogging.

With today’s tough job market and struggling economy, people need to differentiate themselves and start to employ the same kind of branding techniques used by many of today’s top businesses.

- Danny

The newly-designed AOL homepage will allow users to integrate all their social network connections!  This is quite a change from the AOL of the past that acted like a casino, trying to keep people inside its friendly confines.  Clear out your desk, yellow AOL guy - there’s a new AOL in town and it wants you to Twitter!  Twitter like you’ve never Twittered before!

- Cody

In the US this year, advertisers will spend $40 million to reach a business audience on online social networks.

-Maria

Facebook has started testing out small video ads on the homepage. As long as they’re not pop-ups!

—Alyssa

Fun facts about how Baby Boomers use the Internet:

• Only 15% of 55- to-64-year-olds use social networking sites, compared to 75% of 15- to-24-year-olds (although many of my friends’ parents have recently popped up on Facebook)

• Online boomers were more likely to send or receive e-mail on a given day: 54% versus 49% of younger Americans who are wired (that’s because we’re too busy texting or IMing)

• About 66% of online Boomers have looked up health information online, compared with 54% for younger users

• Boomers were more likely to visit online support groups for specific medical conditions and personal situations: 55% versus 36%

• Half of online Boomers have used the Internet for financial information, compared with 28% for the younger group (my dad checks his stocks every day on Schwab, then jots the information down by hand in a notebook)

—Alyssa

Canadian Blood Services just launched ThankYourDonor.ca, which allows the recipients of blood donations to upload their personal videos and stories. This is a smart way to increase the number of donors, as it puts a human face on the anonymous recipients and is more moving than the usual prospect of free cookies.

—Alyssa

MySpace parent company Fox Interactive Media recently missed their revenue target for the last fiscal year and fired their chief revenue officer Michael Barrett. The layoffs may be tied to that missed target.

Hmmmm, could this have something to do with the fact that Facebook is #1?

-Maria

Our client JCPenney’s DorkDodge.com is an example of integration between a branded game and a social network page (Facebook in this case). There’s exclusive content in both places to keep engagement going…check it out.

-Maria

MTV just launched a new music social network called SoundTrack. Now you can finally download all your favorite music from The Hills and My Super Sweet 16!

—Alyssa

You can finally “opt in” to the new Facebook and see what your profile looks like with the new layout. It’s not too much different, it’s just…wider.

—Alyssa